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Cup Championship Down To Final Race
- Updated: November 16, 2011
It comes down to this, one race left in the season and three points separating the top two competitors. An epic championship battle between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart comes to a conclusion this weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.
It’s Ford vs Chevy. It’s season long consistency vs hot streak. It’s Edwards vs Stewart.
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Tony Stewart needs to erase a three point defecit to capture his third Sprint Cup Series Championship. [Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR]
Roush-Fenway Racing, who Edwards races for, has been near dominant at Homestead with seven wins out of the twelve Cup Series races contested. Edwards has won two out of the last three races at the track and brings a series leading 5th place average Homestead finish into Sunday’s race. Leading at the Speedway is something Edwards excels at with 441 laps led, most in the series. Edwards stats at the track are two wins, four top five, six top ten and one pole in seven races.
For his part, Stewart is no slouch at Homestead. The first two Cup Series races at the track were won by Stewart and he is the leader in laps run at the 1.5 mile track with 3206. Stewart’s stats at the track are two wins, three top five six top ten, and an average finish of 12.4 in twelve races. Stewart is second to Edwards in laps led with 385.
Throw all the stats together and fans should see Edwards battling Stewart at the front of the field all the way to the checkers on Sunday. This race promises to be one for the ages.
There will be forty-one other drivers in the race on Sunday and some of them have a great shot at taking home the winning trophy. Throughout the twelve races at Homestead, Roush-Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing have won eleven. Denny Hamlin (1 win) and Greg Biffle (3 wins) would like nothing better than closing out a frustrating 2011 season with a win. Kevin Harvick, currently third in the point standings, has an average finish of 7.9 in ten races at Homestead.
Another driver who has been on a hot streak late in the season is AJ Allmendinger. Allmendinger has four top ten finishes in the Chase this year, including a fourth place start and sixth place finish at Phoenix last weekend. In three races at Homestead, Allmendinger has two top ten runs and an average finish of 8.7. A dark horse in this weekend’s event, Allmendinger could capture his first Sprint Cup Series win wrapping up a season that has seen five other drivers find victory lane for the first time as well.
So who is going to win the Sprint Cup Championship for 2011? I say Tony Stewart. I expect Stewart to win the race and the Championship with Edwards racing him to the finish. These two drivers have given fans a great Chase to watch and I expect the Ford 400 to be no different. This is a can’t miss event for race fans.
John Wiedemann is the owner, editor and developer of the RacingNation.com website.
A motorsports fan from his earliest memories, John started going to local short tracks and the Milwaukee Mile with his parents, brother and sister. John enjoys drivers racing side by side and battling for the same piece of real estate on the racetrack as much as he appreciates the technical aspects of the sport.